The legal status of spiritualists, psychics, fortunetellers and
healers has often been a precarious one. While some police forces admit that
they turn to Apsychic detectives@
when they need assistance in solving a crime, others won=t
consider the idea. The use of Apsychic
readings@ for entertainment is
widespread, but when law enforcement and district attorneys believe that
practitioners cross the line into fraud, they trigger local ordinances under the
municipal police power to prevent what they consider to be deceptive practices.

In some cases, what constitutes Afortunetelling@
is in question, since divination has historically been a part of many religious
practices, and also implicates the right of assocation and the right of free
speech. A recent Louisiana case illustrates this point.

In November 1999, a federal judge in New Iberia,
Louisiana, struck down that city's 1982 ban on palm reading and fortunetelling.
Judge Tucker L. Melancon ruled that the town had violated its residents' First
Amendment rights. Lawyers for New Iberia argued that the ban protected the
welfare of its 32,000 citizens by cracking down on fraud and unfair trade
practices. Framing the fight as a free speech issue, Melissa Long, a
fortuneteller, joined psychic reader Ray Trimble and the American Civil
Liberties Union in suing the city over the closure of Trimble's shop. After the
ruling Long commented that the decision was a "victory for free
speech" that "brings New Iberia up to the times."

What is known as Afortune
telling,@Apalmistry,@Areading futures,@
and the like within the city is declared a nuisance and is prohibited, and
persons plying these vocations shall, upon conviction, be subject to a fine not
exceeding twenty dollars ($20.00) or imprisoned not exceeding fifteen days (15)
days, or both, at the discretion of the judge, who shall have the authority to
require that persons violating the provisions of this section leave the city.

Any person desiring to practice fortune telling shall make
application for a license to the department of inspections and code enforcement
on forms to be prepared by said department. This form shall include at a minimum
the following: (1) The full name and address of the applicant (2) Any aliases by
which the applicant has ever been known (3) Each address of the applicant,
including municipal number, city and state, for the last five (5) years (4) A
statement that the applicant has not been convicted of a felony, plead guilty or
nolo contendere to a felony or two or more prior misdemeanors involving crimes
of theft and/or violence (5) Written authorization to the police department to
obtain fingerprints and criminal history background checks of the applicant (6)
Furnish the department of inspections and code enforcement with two photographs
showing a front and side picture of the full face of the applicant, size 2 2
by 2 2/3 inches.

This annotation collects and analyzes the judicial
decisions concerning the validity, construction, operation, or effect of
statutes or ordinances which explicitly prohibit or regulate, directly or
through taxation, astrology, clairvoyancy, fortunetelling, and similar
spiritualistic or psychic endeavors. However, statutes and ordinances are
treated herein only insofar as they are discussed in the reported cases, and
this annotation does not purport to reflect the current legislative and
municipal enactments of any particular jurisdiction.@

Annotation: Admissibility to establish fraudulent purpose or
intent, in prosecution for obtaining or attempting to obtain money or property
by false pretenses, of evidence of similar attempts on other occasions, 78 A.
L. R. 2d 1359 (1997).

A

This annotation supplements one in 80 ALR 1306, and
discusses the later cases involving prosecutions for obtaining money or property
by false pretenses in which the question has arisen as to whether evidence of
other similar offenses may be admitted to show the fraudulent purpose or intent
of the accused.@

For more, see the related sections:

Fortunetelling, 36 Am. Jur. 2d '1,2

Vagrancy, 77 Am. Jur. 2d'
22

The Law of Other Countries

Canada

Article 365 of the Canadian Criminal Code. "365.
[323] Everyone who fraudulently(a)
pretends to exercise or to use any kind of witchcraft, sorcery, enchantment or
conjuration (b) undertakes, for a
consideration, to tell fortunes, or (c) pretends from his skill in knowledge of
an occult or crafty science to discover where or in what manner anything is
supposed to have been stolen or lost may be found, is guilty of an offense
punishable on summary conviction." Note that this statute, while it has not
been challenged, may contravene the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. It
is based on a similar English statute from 1951, the Fraudulent Mediums Act.